When Star Trek returned to television on September 28, 1987, no one knew for sure if this experiment was going to work. Could you really capture lightning in a bottle twice? While the ship still carried the same name, the cast was completely different—and the actors relatively unknown. What's more, the show was syndicated. That doesn't seem like a big deal now, but at the time it was unusual and not known as a recipe for success. In this episode of The Ready Room hosts Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin discuss "Encounter at Farpoint," which turned out to be the seed for all but 86 of the episodes and films in the world's most expansive science fiction franchise.

In our news segment we wish a happy birthday to J.J. Abrams, say our farewells to composer Fred Steiner, tune in to Michael Giacchino as he talks to Collider about scoring Star Trek, find out what Simon Pegg has to say about Star Trek and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, find out more about the new Abramsverse comic series as The Comic Book Resources interviews IDW Chief Creative Officer Chris Ryall, turn the pages of a new Star Trek Trivia Book, and discuss the trailer of William Shatner's new documentary "The Captains."